The “Fourth” Is With You

Oh my God, my back!!! I remember it vividly. It was 2014 and I had just gotten up out of bed after a long night’s rest that was induced by a certain female friend that was laying next to me.

I have these weird thing where I ALWAYS sneeze at least 5 times when I wake up. This time I wasn’t quite ready and when I sneezed I turned so I wouldn’t sneeze on her and when I turned, I couldn’t turn back. I was frozen…back thrown

Turns out there are millions of people in America that have this or something similar happen to them everyday. Well, I’m one to say and I’m sure you’ll agree, that there has to be a way we can prevent this.

It seems like if you’re active you have a bad back and if you spend your time doing nothing, you still suffer the same fate. So without further adieu, here are a few things you are doing to yourself to screw up your back and of course, a few ways to prevent it.

Saddle up Sally…

1. Stay out of saddles- Just kidding, but seriously though, the way you sit or what you are sitting on is probably the main culprit in killing your back.

Solution: Sit in a chair that can keep you up right for the most part. If your chair leans back then sit forward on it. If you are sitting on a uber comfortable chair, chances are, unless you spent serious money on it, you’re doing yourself a disservice.

2. Keep your head up- Man you don’t know how many people complain about neck, shoulder, upper back pain, and headaches when I’m at the chiropractor. Ok…maybe you can guess…it’s everyone!! The main reason? Well, you can tell just by watching them text. When you look down to text you put up to 42 lbs(!) of pressure on your neck and shoulders.

Solution:ALWAYS keep your cell phone, tablet, or whatever communication device your using, at eye level. It will help you keep your spine aligned and will prevent all that pressure from building up and causing you later discomfort.

3. Sleep on it- Your back that is. Let’s think about this for a second. When you sleep on your stomach, you put your head to the side. Imagine if you were to walk around for 6-8 hours with your head to the side. It’d hurt your neck right? Yup! And you’ll find the same issue if you were to lay on your side. Most end up curled up with their back rounded.

Solution:Lay on your back. It may not be the most comfortable at first, but get used to it, because it’s better then spending the whole day complaining about how you slept…

And last but not least…

4. Work it out- Many people suffer from back issues because of a weak core. They don’t have enough core strength to keep them upright. Whether you are sitting or standing, you should keep you head over shoulders.

Solution:Strengthen your core with crunches and back extensions. If that’s too much for you, just start with isometric contractions where you sit and flex your back and abs.

Welp, that’s all I got for ya. Of course, there are plenty more ways and I talk about them here in my private Facebook group Project SELFFY Philadelphia. Want to know more? Just click the link.

Jerry “back whisperer” Washington

P.S. If you have any other ailments or issues that you’d like to have me discuss, just click this link and we can talk more about what we might be able to do right away to get you back on track. Talk soon…

Now, as far as practical advice goes, I would say that being in a rush to be number one is not the way to go. I don't know how old you are, 30, 40, 50...60, it doesn't matter. You're gonna live another 40, 50, 60 years (if you don't get hit by a bus)